Hamid Izadi Wins In North Carolina For Third WSOP Circuit Main Event Title

Over the last two years, Hamid Izadi’s enjoyed a meteoric rise up the ranks of the World Series of Poker Circuit. He already had six WSOP Circuit rings when he took down the WSOP Circuit main event at Harrah’s Pompano Beach in early 2024, but Izadi multiplied his career-best cash on the tour by more than 12 times with that win. He then added a second WSOP Circuit main event title in Southern Indiana in September 2025.

Izadi’s third WSOP Circuit main event win carried with it even more significant milestones. He took down the $1,700 buy-in main event at Harrah’s Cherokee on May 18, 2026 for a career-best score of $332,405. It’s Izadi’s first ever WSOP Circuit win at his de facto hometown casino, as he hails from Atlanta. It also comes just two weeks after another major result for Izadi: he took down the Major Series of Poker: The Tour main event at MSPT Festival Wisconsin, worth $219,654.

As his career earnings climbed to almost $3 million, Izadi also made himself a factor in the 2026 Card Player Player of the Year race presented by CoinPoker. After adding 960 POY points to his total with his WSOPC Cherokee main event win, Izadi’s total for the year now sits at 2,230 points. That’s good enough for 40th place overall, just ahead of players like Chris Hunichen (44th) and defending POY winner Jesse Lonis (45th) in the standings.

“This was very important to me. Even though I won the main event before, Cherokee was always important for me,” Izadi told Poker.Org’s Ryan Lashmar shortly after his victory. “First of all, it’s my home casino, my backyard. Second, it’s the largest stop on the circuit. Third, I’ve never won a ring here. I’ve won rings everywhere else, but not in Cherokee. This feels great. I’m amazingly happy.”

A Dominant Run

By the close of registration in the WSOP Circuit main event at Harrah’s Cherokee, 1,489 entrants had been whittled down to 161 players, vying for a piece of the $2,255,835 prize pool. Izadi was the overnight chip leader heading into day 2, and that stack carried him all the way through to the third and final day.

As 161 day 2 players were whittled down to the final 15, several notables fell along the way. 2023 WSOP main event champion Daniel Weinman, also based out of Atlanta, made the trip north and finished this tournament in 93rd place ($4,635). Two-time WSOP Circuit main event winner Zachary Fischer (117th –  $4,295), WSOP bracelet winner Joey Weissman (86th – $4,857), three-time bracelet winner Ryan Eriquezzo (71st – $5,648), and Huy Nguyen (45th – $7,073) each made a run before falling short on day 2.

Izadi was a little bit farther back in the pack to start the third and final day. But by the time the official nine-handed final table got underway, Izadi had picked up two knockouts to regain the chip lead.

Izadi extended his advantage significantly when he made a hero call with pocket fours, all the way down on a K♠9♥5♣7♣A♠ board against Nathan Dunlop. He then picked off a short-stacked Jack Nathan in seventh place ($45,465) when his K♣6♣ found a king to beat Nathan’s pocket queens. Izadi finished off Dunlop when A♦10♠ held off Dunlop’s A♣3♦, eliminating Dunlop in sixth place ($60,575).

Another Izadi elimination reduced the field to four players. Izadi’s A♠4♦ found an A♥ on the flop against Thomas Beckstead’s K♠9♣, and that was more than enough to bust Beckstead in fifth place ($81,936).

A Brief Scare, Before Victory

Louis George made the most significant challenge to Izadi’s run to the title. George eliminated Konstantin Shukhman in fourth place ($112,495), as A♦8♠ held against Shukhman’s K♠5♠. Izadi picked off Lou Ojeda in third place ($156,736), as A♣4♣ missed the board but still beat Ojeda’s K♠7♦ with ace-high.

George already had his largest live result by more than 10 times locked up by getting heads-up in this tournament. He had one previous WSOP Circuit ring win, in New Orleans in 2014. He faced a deficit of more than 2:1 to start the heads-up match. But when both George and Izadi turned two pair in a key hand, George’s kings and nines bested Izadi’s tens and nines, giving George the chip lead.

Izadi quickly recaptured the lead without showdown, though, and then everything came down to a single, massive all-in showdown. With blinds at 150,000-300,000, Izadi raised to 800,000, and George three-bet to 3.5 million. Izadi shoved, putting George at risk, and George called with A♠3♦. Izadi’s 8♥8♠ was well ahead, but George picked up a world of outs on the 7♦5♦4♦ flop, including a straight flush draw.

Two bricks, in the form of a J♣ turn and K♣ river, delivered the victory for Izadi, though, bringing the tournament to a close.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: Poker.Org / WSOP.